Upgrade Your EDC With One Of These Keychain Knives
There are at least a half dozen reasons to carry a knife alongside your keys.
For one, your keys aren’t sharp enough to fend off a wild animal. And even if they were, you wouldn’t want to lose your house keys inside of a mountain lion anyway.
Speaking more practically, a slimmed-down knife attached to your keys is often all you’ll need for general EDC purposes. That way you can leave your bowie knife at home and not have to talk to HR to start your day at the office.
As for the rest of those reasons? We’ll leave them up to you to discover after you add one of these nifty keychain knives to your everyday carry collection.
The James Brand Elko Knife
Compact yet powerful, The James Brand’s Elko Knife doubles as a minimalist multi-tool thanks to its scraper/screwdriver/bottle opener back end. It measures in at just over two and a half inches while closed, but has a 1.74 inch blade that’s quite a bit bigger than you’d expect out of a keychain knife.
That blade is made of a high quality Sandvik 12C27 steel for good measure, giving it excellent edge retention and corrosion resistance. And seeing as it’s available in nine different unique colors, this little knife seems like a shoo-in for any guy’s everyday carry setup.
Price: $75
WESN Microblade
WESN built its Microblade to be tough, portable, but incredibly reliable. The Grade 5 Titanium Scale handle will resist rust, corrosion, scratches, and scuffs, and it offers both protection for the blade and an easy-grip handle. The D2 tool-grade steel strikes just the right balance between easy sharpening and good edge retention, and it’s tough enough you can use it around town, out in nature, or at work without worrying about it snapping or bending on you.
The flipper mechanism opens and closes the blade smooth as silk thanks to its ceramic bearings and the frame lock ensures the blade is always locked in the open position while you work. At just one ounce and less than six inches long when folded, it’s the ultimate portable knife to sling on your keychain.
Price: $89
Craighill Lark Knife
For those who need a compact knife always handy, the Craighill Lark Knife delivers the razor-sharp cutting blade and convenient, durable construction you’re looking for. The 12C27 blade steel is beautifully resilient and easy to sharpen, but offers excellent edge-retention, too. The compact size (just over two and a half inches when closed, barely over four inches when open) makes it easy to fit in both your backpack and your pocket, and the shape nestles in your palm for a secure grip when cutting or slicing.
Thanks to its highly dynamic flipper mechanism, you can snap it open and get to work in a second—and it’ll also satisfy your “fidget” proclivities. With the eyelet set into the butt end, you can easily clip it to your carabiner keychain or slide it onto a key ring for easy everyday carry.
Price: $88
Gerber Key Note Knife
With a one-inch blade and not much more handle than that, Gerber’s Key Note Knife is about as small as a keychain knife can get. Even so, its exceptionally chunky blade is made for pretty heavy duty stuff, with some users comparing it to a “box cutter on steroids”.
We particularly like the multiple carry options on the Key Note; you can choose from a keyring attachment or a pocket clip that runs the length of the handle, making it a versatile piece that can fit into any EDC setup. Just be prepared to give it a good workout when it’s new, because the blade deployment can be quite stiff at first.
Price: $27
SOG Centi II Knife
We always love seeing a piece of gear that is both affordable and useful—and SOG’s Centi II Knife is most defiinitely both of those things. For well under 20 bucks, it’s a knife that you can take with you anywhere, beat to hell and back, and not feel bad if you lose it or damage it so badly that you need to replace it.
It’s a little bit bigger than most of the keyring knives on this list, with a closed length nearing three inches. But that hides a blade that’s over two inches long, making this feel more like a full-sized knife when it’s deployed. And at a grand total of 1.3 ounces in weight, the Centi makes carrying a blade lighter and easier than ever.
Price: $15
Berm Keychain Knife
The carabiner clip, borrowed from the climbing world, is one of the finest additions to everyday carry gear that we’ve seen in the past decade. Berm’s Keychain Knife puts this to use in a novel way, adding an integrated carabiner clip to the back of their compact flipper knife for easy clip-on-clip-off access.
That puts it in a league of its own as far as keychain knives go, because you won’t have to bother with jangling your entire keyring every time you need to open a box or trim a stray thread. If you’re not inclined towards the carabiner carry though, the Berm comes with a deep-carry pocket clip, too, making it a wonderfully versatile little blade.
Price: $30
KeySmart Folding Knife
So, you’ve already seen that you could put a knife on your keyring—but what if you made your knife into your keyring? That’s basically what KeySmart’s Folding Knife does, by integrating with one of the brand’s fold-out key organizers.
As promised by KeySmart, having that knife so nearby makes it easy to “open packages, cut animals loose from tangled wire, or cut seat belts if you’re in an accident”, which really tells a compelling story about how important this knife could be to your health and safety. Just be sure to take it out of your keyring before you head through TSA, okay?
Price: $12+
CRKT Delilah’s P.E.C.K Knife
When you think of a Precision Everyday carry Combat Knife, what comes to mind? Probably something pretty close to CRKT’s Delilah knife, with one big twist—the Delilah has made the odd-but-useful choice of integrating a money clip into the design.
Yes, it’s true: Now you can carry your cash while preparing for hand-to-hand combat, stash your Benjamins and slash your enemies. Or just, you know, have a handy, lightweight, skeletonized knife that happens to carry a few bills. Either way, this featherweight fighter is a neat and affordable addition to your everyday carry loadout.
Price: $30
Spyderco Grasshopper
Spyderco’s “bug knives” series are an exercise in minimalism, both in form and in function. Gone are the bells and whistles of other keychain knives—even down to lacking a locking mechanism. That spartan design theory has real benefits when it comes to durability though, since there are fewer moving parts to get worn and torn down.
The Grasshopper is a particularly nice keychain knife, with an all-steel look and feel complemented only by a small Spyderco logo and a lanyard or keychain hole at the bottom of the handle.
Price: $29+
Benchmade Mini Bugout Knife
The Mini Bugout Knife is every survivalist’s best friend. Sized to slide into any pocket, pouch, or pack, it’s wonderfully lightweight (just one and a half ounces) and comfortable to carry. The CPM-S30V Premium Stainless Steel is durable enough you can use it safely for anything—be it work, hunting, butchering, or surviving in the great outdoors—and the cerakote finish adds legendary durability.
Thanks to its CF Elite handle, it won’t slip or slide in even wet, bloody, or muddy hands, and the ambidextrous design makes it easy to wield with either hand. Best of all, it’s MOLLE-compatible, perfect for tactical or combat environments.
Price: $180
SOG KeyTron Folding Knife
The SOG KeyTron Folding Knife is built to be your constant companion, the blade you take anywhere and use for anything—from opening boxes to packages to containers to paint cans. The blade is less than two inches long but made from thick, sturdy 5Cr15MoV steel with a clip point that makes it incredibly versatile for slicing, cutting, and piercing.
The stainless steel handle is corrosion and rust-resistant, too, so you can use it for working around a job site, farm, or lab. With a built-in key ring, you can secure all your keys to the knife, rather than slinging the knife on your key ring.
Price: $25
Joycube Mini Utility Knife
For warehouse workers and delivery drivers, this one’s for you. The Joycube Mini Utility Knife is built to be the ideal cutting blade for boxes, packing tape, and packages. At just under two inches long when closed, it’s easy to carry in your pocket as well as on your key ring, and the blade adds less than an inch of length—perfect for bubble packaging and packing tape without worrying about damaging the contents inside.
The combination of a stainless steel blade and aluminum alloy body makes it tough as nails but wonderfully lightweight. Keep it with your car keys or office keys and you’ll always have it handy when you need to open parcels or boxes.
Price: $10+
Smith & Wesson Folding Keychain Knife
Stone wash, drop point, frame lock: That’s three qualities that set Smith & Wesson’s Folding Keychain Knife apart from the competition. The stone wash gives it a unique look and feel that’s a bit lower-profile than the shinier examples on this list.
A drop point makes it equally useful for stabbing and slicing. And a full frame lock means that once this knife is deployed, it’s there to stay as long as you need it. It’s a good pal for when you need to crack a brewski after all that action too, with an integrated bottle opener on the back of the handle next to the lanyard hole.
Price: $18
Everyman Porter Key Multi-Tool 2.0
We’re not saying that you should try to sneak Everyman’s Porter Key Multi-Tool 2.0 through security at the airport—we’re just saying that you probably could.
Folded down, it looks just like a house key. But open it up, and you get a bottle opener and a 1.2-inch blade. It’s about as compact as a keychain knife can get, seeing as it’s no bigger than a key, and that makes it a no-brainer for anyone who’s looking to pare down their everyday carry.
Price: $28
Opinel No.4 Folding Keychain Knife
Opinel’s knives have been a standby for the average guy for over 100 years now. And the secret to their enduring succes comes down to three things: Consistent quality, a finely tuned design, and a wide range of knife sizes to choose from.
Their No. 4 Folding Keychain Knife is definitely on the smaller end of their offerings, and it comes complete with a keyring already attached. The collar lock mechanism is particularly nice on Opinel’s knives, allowing you to quickly and easily stabilize the blade when it’s time to cut.
Price: $13
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